In Western Mass., they feel as if their team has been hijacked

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Your front-page article about the UMass football team’s move to the Football Bowl Subdivision and home games at Gillette Stadium reflects what many of us feel in the western end of the state (“Enthusiasm gap for UMass,” Dec. 12). Our team has been hijacked.

We liked the regional rivalries with teams like Maine and New Hampshire. The football experience at University of Massachusetts Amherst — the band marching through campus to the game, tailgating on the grassy areas around McGuirk Alumni Statium, the affordable tickets — was great. We want it back, and do not support either the move to the FBS or Gillette.